A winter picnic, December days, and Arlo's first birthday

Nicholas took a day or two off of work each week throughout the month of December, so we enjoyed lots of time together with our little family. One week, we did two back-to-back days of cozy hikes at our local arboretum.

The first one, I took the boys myself, and despite a temp in the forties, the windchill put the "feels like" temperature in the twenties. The boys shivered their way through their picnic lunches and I was tempted to pack up and head home. But then, we came across the winter scavenger hunt and hiking enthusiasm was renewed. We spent nearly three hours tromping around, when all was said and done, and then spent a very cozy afternoon warming up at home.

The following day, a day that Nicholas had off work, we packed picnic lunches again. But the weather was markedly different – much warmer, little wind, and sunshine! With a backpack filled with lunches, we hiked to one of our favorite big trees to eat lunch and climb. The boys had snacky lunches and Nicholas and I had thermoses of risotto, plus some clementines. I wore Arlo and worked on a little Christmasy crochet (the gift for Katelyn that I mentioned in the post about our Christmas 2025, Part 1). It was one of my favorite recent family outings. Fresh air, sunshine, moving our bodies, and quality time with all my boys.

Earlier in December, we celebrated Arlo's first birthday! Oh, what joy this little boy brings to our family. He is such an easygoing, happy baby. He loves to peek around the corner of anything (the kitchen island, a wall or doorway) for impromptu games of peek-a-boo, and he likes to "clean up," toys after getting them out. He is a very fast crawler, especially if he catches a glimpse of an open dishwasher or cabinet. He loves to snuggle me, of course, but he also happily falls asleep on Nicholas (so nice for everyone)! He adores his big brothers, and will call for them, usually with an enthusiastic "Eeeee!" He says, "Hi!" with dramatic waves, as well as "Mama," and "Dada," and he loves to stand up and push a chair all the way across the room.

He is quick to smile, flashing his seven teeth at us, with giggles or happy shrieking. And I trying my very best to soak in every moment of babyhood – such a precious and fleeting time. I have enjoyed looking back to December of 2024, when I wrote a welcome post, and then later, when I shared his birth story.

Thank you, Lord for Arlo and what a gift he is to our family!